News and Analysis
Waymo Releases Data Set to Catalyze Autonomous Driving Research
Why should local search specialists care about autonomous vehicles? The same way mobile, with its natural on-the-go use cases, has become the hub of “near me” searches that lead consumers into local businesses, cars will become the next mobile device, catalyzing the next wave of “near me” queries. Self-driving cars are not tangential to the future of local; they are central to it.
4 Major Takeaways About Consumer Privacy Concerns
Location data firm Factual commissioned a study conducted by the University of Southern California applied psychology master’s program to take the pulse of consumers on data privacy. Unsurprisingly, not all consumers demographic groups share the same levels and types of concern. Here are four major takeaways from the survey of 1,002 smartphone users aged 18 to 65.
By Unlocking Vehicle Data, Car Rental Companies Help Build Smarter Cities
As operator of three of the most recognized brands in the industry — Avis, Budget and Zipcar — Avis Budget Group represents a mobility ecosystem of more than 11,000 locations in approximately 180 countries. The company recently partnered with the connected-car data firm Otonomo to manage its connected cars on Otonomo’s automotive data services platform. Otonomo will help ABG derive insights from its large connected vehicle fleet, including anonymizing, standardizing, and delivering data from Toyota, Ford, Peugeot and GM vehicles.
The deal between ABG and Otonomo is expected to generate more than 4 billion road miles of data this year, and 7 billion road miles of data by 2020, with much of that data being used for predictive maintenance, smart city planning, and streamlining of the rental process.
Commentary
Making Sense of Amazon’s Push Deeper Into Local
Clearly Amazon is positioning itself in the sales funnel aggressively, Mike Blumenthal tells David Mihm. “And unlike Google their presale efforts lead directly to sales that they control. ”
Why Mobile Payments Will Heat Up in 2017
Mobile payments have been inhibited by point-of-sale hardware upgrade requirements and the lack of a killer pitch for either users or merchants. But the movement to chip-based credit and debit cards in the U.S. could help.
Why Location-Based Machine Learning Is the Smart Path to Personalization
With the right data, a brand can keep the relationship with the customer warm while they’re off-property, out-of-town or on a budget. Offering the right deals and communications that are relevant to real interests means that the relationship between man and machine is getting better all the time.
Latest Posts
Unacast Partners With Opera to Let Marketers Retarget Consumers Using Beacon Data
The partnership potentially represents a shift from the GPS data that advertisers have previously relied upon for recent location ( which only works when users are outdoors and actively using their mobile devices) and toward more granular beacon data in profile creation and retargeting.
Will ApplePay Be the Company’s Next Mega-Business?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Apple is currently in need of a really big new product (a la iPhone or iPad) to keep growing. I think the company has ample opportunity to turn the payments industry on its head and make ApplePay its next big product.
Street Fight Daily: The Quiet Success of Ecommerce App Wish, LinkedIn Launches B2B Marketing Tool
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Ecommerce App Wish Has ‘Hundreds of Millions of Users’ (Plus Other Stats About the Company) (TechCrunch)… LinkedIn Debuts New Targeting Feature for Marketers (AdAge)… SoundHound’s Virtual Assistant Launches Out of Beta (VentureBeat)…
As Ad Blockers Proliferate, IAB’s Rothenberg Tells Local Publishers to Stick to Their Guns
“Ad blocking represents the new normal in the media industry,” he said at Borrell’s local advertising conference in NYC. And if present trends continue, ad blocking could soon “surpass 50% on most sites.”
How Data Is Poised to Significantly Transform Local Marketing
It is becoming clear that this is the year when our industry effectively leverages data integration across the marketing ecosystem. One significant aspect of this industry evolution is the injection of physical-world data with other data sets, as well as mobile. Mobile data is the glue that connects all data with the broader ecosystem.
Good Uncle’s Cerilli: ‘We Could Change the Face of Franchising’
If Wiley Cerilli’s new venture has its way, geography won’t be as limiting a factor in determining who has access to gourmet food and celebrated dishes from famous chefs. The company, which recently raised $2.2 million, will launch this fall in smaller cities and towns, linking local populations to big-city food via a mobile app and delivery service.
Street Fight Daily: Google/Facebook vs. Publishers, Will Alibaba Buy Yahoo Stake?
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… In Battle with Google and Facebook, More Publishers Join Forces (Digiday)… Alibaba Raises More Cash, Yahoo Stake In Sight? (Forbes)… Most Mobile Marketers Are Using Location, But How Do You Do It Right? (Marketing Land)…
Making Sense of Google’s Changes that Just Blew Up Online Ads for Local Businesses
There’s really no way to overstate what a massive change Google’s ad reconfiguring is for everyone in the SEM industry. But it’s going to have a more profound — and even devastating — effect on locally-oriented businesses who had relied on Adwords as a key marketing tool.
Case Study: New England Dessert Bar Grows Email List With Monthly Contests
At Treat Cupcake Bar, Sarah Waters’ responsibilities run the gamut from online and offline marketing and social media management, to event organization and employee development. Of all her responsibilities, it’s online marketing that creates some of her biggest challenges.
Street Fight Daily: Billboards and Location Marketing, Wikipedia’s Search Plans Causing Controversy
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… See That Billboard? It May See You, Too (New York Times)… Head of Wikimedia Resigns Over Search Engine Plans (The Guardian)… As Advertisers Clamor for Location Data, Can Publishers Deliver? (AdExchanger)…
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